Newspaper suicide watch: the folly of “local-local”
The Wall Street Journal took a look at what it calls a "big daily’s hyperlocal flop," as the Washington Post poured resources into creating a "local-local" product for an affluent county.
For believers in the power of rigorous local coverage to help save
newspapers, the Washington Post’s launch of LoudounExtra.com last July
was a potentially industry-defining event. It paired a journalistic
powerhouse with a dream team of Internet geeks to build a virtual town
square for one of Virginia’s and the nation’s most-affluent and
fastest-growing counties.Almost a year later, however, the Web site is still
searching for an audience. Its chief architect has left for another
venture in Las Vegas, and his team went with him. And while Post
executives say they remain committed to providing so-called hyperlocal
news coverage, they are re-evaluating their approach.
This was sadly predictable, and indicative of the group-think that is causing newspapers to commit suicide.
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